Don't Tell
by Cyan.Ptak
Summary: Beginnings can be scary, endings are usually sad; it's what you do in between that counts the most. For Temari, moving on is simple; it's what she leaves behind that's hard. But what if the past can come back to haunt her where she least expects it?
1. Prologue

_Enjoy..._

_**Disclaimer**: I don't own Naruto or any of its characters. _

Summary: It's Temari's first day at a new school. It's her senior year and she wants to get a fresh start, leave the past behind her, and develop a new identity. But in her homeroom, Temari comes across a kid she knows from summer camp, and she's sure he remembers what happened all too well.

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><p><em><strong>Prologue<strong>__**:**_

It had been done. There was no going back; no redoing what she had just done.

It wasn't as if anyone got hurt. Except maybe herself, so why did she feel so guilty? So _torn apart_?

They were supposed to go somewhere quiet by themselves so they could just talk instead of attending their final fire camp ceremony with the rest of their campers. He had promised to give her a night to remember…

"Come on," he urged. "Let's go have some fun. The fire camps suck. I'd rather spend my time with you." The simple comment had made Temari's stomach do a couple of flips of excitement.

"What about the camp counselors?" she asks uncertain.

"Just say you have to go to the restroom," he said as if where the most obvious thing. "Meet me in front of the boys' cabins." Temari looked over at her brothers, Kankuro and Gaara. They surely would notice her absence. "Forget about them." He whispers in her ear urging her on. And soon he is gone, on his way to the boys' cabins.

It was now or never. Temari decides to follow, slipping past the strict counselors and asking the nicest one to go to the restroom. The counselor nods not even registering who had just asked him to go to the restroom. Temari rushes to the designated spot where he was already waiting for her there. He seemed to fidget with his shirt, not his usual cool and poised self.

"What's wrong?" Temari asks him in concern.

"Nothing," he says between his teeth. Then he gives a smile that is a little off. "I just want to make sure to give you a night to remember." He steps in and gives Temari a deep kiss. She kisses him back. It wasn't their first time doing this. They had flirted with each other since they first met on their first day at Camp Suna, and their relationship quickly developed. Her younger brothers often complained about their obsession with each other, but mostly Temari's obsession with _him_.

He slid his hands underneath her shirt and pulled her closer to him. Temari softly moaned into his mouth. His hold on her only seemed to tighten and his movements became frantic. He shoved her against the door of a boy's cabin. Temari didn't know which one, but she didn't care. Her attention was fixated on the man in front of her. She moved her left hand up to pull at his light ash colored hair while her right tugged at his shirt.

Suddenly he stopped kissing her, still dazed from the kiss Temari didn't realize what was going on until they both stumbled into the cabin still embraced. The coldness of the cabin sent a shiver up Temari's spine, snapping her back into reality. She realized what his intentions where now. But her reaction was too late. It was as if her mind was processing everything ten times slower than the way they were happening.

He guided her over to the closet bed and threw her on it, clumsily getting himself on top. The kisses were becoming harsher, sloppier in the dark. She couldn't see him but could feel the closeness of his breath on her neck as he bit down harder than he usually did. He managed to pull her t-shirt off and was hastily working on her shorts when Temari finally reacted.

"W-wait," Temari managed to huff out.

"What?" he growled.

"I just—I don't know if we should be doing this. Here of all places." In a way, she didn't want him to stop. She really liked him. He was good looking and had a sarcastic sense of humor that she liked in guys, so why not do it now? Her body was responding, and she was enjoying his touches…but something wasn't right.

"What are you talking about?" his voice husky, giving her a thrill yet scaring her at the same time. It was obvious his he only had one thing on his mind.

"What if someone comes back?" she asked, not knowing what other excuse to come up with.

"Don't be stupid, they're all at the camp fire roasting mushrooms like little kids. But we aren't little kids anymore right?" he went back to working on her shorts and pulled them off with ease. She didn't know when he had taken off his shirt and jeans but suddenly she could feel his nakedness against her body.

Her mind was reeling. Part of her knew what was happening, and the other part was thinking about the campers and her brothers who were probably exchanging stories while she got laid in some old moldy bed slept in by many previous boys. She shut her eyes and tried not to think about it because there was still yet another part saying that she wanted this to happen to her. Temari had always wanted to experience sex, but did she really want to do it here?

_Why not? You like him don't you?_ A voice tried to convince her.

He didn't take the time get her ready. Instead he penetrated her without a warning. A sudden burst of pain shock Temari's entire body; mistaking it for pleasure he began to move faster. She tried to adjust at first but it felt like Temari's insides were being ripped apart. To hell with pleasure, all she wanted to do was get him _off_ of her. She tried her best to shove and push but her arms felt like Jell-O, and his body was getting heavier by the minute, not letting her breath. Temari gasped for air, clawing at his back to get him off but he seemed to misinterpret her intentions. Temari tried to speak but her voice wouldn't obey her either; her whole body was betraying her.

He's movements only became harder, faster until all he could do was shake on top of her as he let out a deep grunt. He collapsed on top of her only making things worse. She shoved him aside and this time he obliged, rolling over next to her.

"Aw, baby, that was great," he whispered still trying to catch his breath. Temari quickly squeezed herself out of his grip and groped around in the darkness for her cloths. "Where are you going?" he asked sensing her movements. Not trusting her own voice, Temari didn't respond. She hadn't cried during the whole thing and she wasn't about to now. "Come on, stay a bit longer."

He hadn't done it the way she had expected him to. She thought he would be gentle and loving, but it hadn't been that way at all. He had been rough and impatient. Even though she tried her best to keep up, she couldn't and it had hurt to try. Temari knew he was experienced, and it's not like she was any stranger to the male body, but it had been her first time going this far and this was not the way she had wanted it to happen. The air around her was choking her up.

This wasn't where she wanted to be.

Temari threw on her panties and cloths, wanting to get out of the wooden cabin as soon as possible. As she headed toward the door she could feel him coming after her.

"Hey, wait!" she heard him say.

She turned toward the door and hurriedly opened it letting the chilly night air in. As Temari stepped into the night but was brought to a sudden halt. She felt a million eyes on her.

Boys, of all ages where staring at her. Some her age, others still at the innocent age of ten where glancing around clueless. A few glared at her disapprovingly, while others were cracking up into cruel laughter. The camp fire had probably ended a while ago, and everyone was coming back for their final night at Camp Suna only to encounter a bewildered Temari rushing out of a dark cabin.

"And that, my boys, is how you do it." Temari turned around and saw Hidan at the entrance of the cabin. Only in his black boxers, he proudly wore a smug smile across his lips. Several guys laughed even harder at the comment while Hidan's smile only got bigger.

"Nice man," a friend of Hidan snickered patting him on the back as he handed Hidan a bundle of dollars.

_Had she been a bet?_ _A joke to him!_

If her dignity hadn't been stolen from her only minutes ago she was sure she would have punched him right then and there. But her she felt powerless, a feeling she had never gotten before. She wasn't the type of girl to be intimidated and run away, but today she would go against her very nature. All she could do was run from the situation.

On her way through the sea of boys, she heard cat calls and whistles all of which she ignored. Temari kept her head down and ran as fast as she could. Not looking where she was going, she bumped into one of them. His body strong made her lose her balance. His hands gently reached out to stabilize her.

She looked up and saw a dark haired boy a head taller than her, but obviously younger. His expression was hard as stone. Temari didn't know why, but his expression made her explode. "What?" she yelled at him. "Don't you want to make a comment?"

His expression relaxed but he stayed silent for a while before shrugging off her loud screams. "What you do is none of my business." With that he turned around and lazily walked away.

When Temari arrived at her cabin, all the other girls were already in their beds. Nobody cared to ask where she had been so she rushed into the restroom to clean herself up as best as she could without making too much noise. She slid into her bed and finally let herself cry.

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><p><em>okay, i know that was a bit harsh to make Temari go through that but it's basically what the story is based on. So yes there will be lemons (and drama) later on in the story but not as harsh as this one. I love ShikaTema and they will always be together in my stories!_

_also, I would really appreaciate some feedback since this is my first fanfic and i would like to hear some constructive critizism on how to improve my writing or stories. so let me hear what you have to say, good or bad! :)_

**_-Cyan_**


	2. Chapter 1

_YAY! new chapter, this one's long, (5 whole pages on word document!)_

_thanks to all those who reviewed my Prologue and I hope you'll stick with me thoughout the whole story. it took me a while to see where I wanted to go with it and now i have a pretty good idea, so i will be uploading every two weeks or once every week depending on how busy that week is for me._

**_Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. saldy..._**

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><p><strong>Chapter I: "Texts and Dreams"<strong>

Temari shuts off her alarm and begins to tremble. She was sure her aunt was insane. Who the hell kept their house at 64 degrees Fahrenheit (17 degrees Celsius)? Didn't she understand that her brothers and she came from a city in the middle of a desert? She pulled her covers above her head hoping it would get her warmer.

Temari rolled her eyes as she heard the murmur of her aunt's favorite talk show from downstairs. God she was noisy. A loud bang from downstairs finally made Temari sit upright fast, spinning her head. A month hadn't been enough to get accustomed to her aunt's weird ways, what on earth was she doing now?

Temari threw off her covers and ran downstairs to the small kitchen, only to find her aunt staring intently at a page on a cooking book. Her mouth moved as if reading to herself. Kankuro followed right behind Temari, his hair wild from moving too much in his sleep.

"Anko, what are you doing?" Temari asked staring at her aunt. Anko looked up, her black eyebrows rising in surprise.

"Hey, kidos," she smiled, "Just trying to make some breakfast, that's all."

"It's six in the morning Anko," Kankuro stifled a yawn while rubbing his eyes. "Don't scare me like that; I thought you were a burglar or something."

Anko laughed at this. Her laughs where always loud and hoarse, always making you want to laugh yourself, and it vaguely reminded Temari of her mom. Kankuro made a comment about not getting enough sleep and walked out of the kitchen going back to bed.

"I'm supposed to make breakfast," Temari said crossing her arms. She'd put on her alarm for this reason. Temari knew her aunt would try to somehow take care of them, the same way she would when Temari and her brothers would come visit Anko during summer years ago. But she was 18 for God's sake; she could be living on her own by now. "Remember I told you we could take care of ourselves?"

"Well, you are now living under my roof so I thought it is right for me to make breakfast," Anko said proudly. Temari smirked at this; Anko was no more mature than herself. Anko brought out an egg and attempted to break it over the pan. Eggshell pieces flew all over. She cursed to herself.

"Seriously I can do it," Temari insisted, laughing silently at Anko's attempts at cooking.

"No, I will." That was one thing Temari and her aunt had in common, they never backed down until they go what they wanted. "Damn, how do you do this?"

This finally made Temari laugh out loud. It wasn't rocket science and considering Anko took care of kids for a living, it surprised Temari that she couldn't even cook one egg. The fact was that Anko was still single even at the age of 28, and though she taught sixth graders and coached the girl's middle school soccer team, she'd never really cooked for anyone. Temari felt a feeling of appreciation for her aunt's efforts to take care of them. Nobody back home had really bothered with her and her siblings after their mom died a week after Gaara's birth. She was glad Anko had decided to take them in this year, despite being so young and not having kids of her own.

"It'll get me prepared for a family of my own," Temari remembered Anko had once told her when Temari had asked her why she had taken them in. It was nice to know her and her brothers weren't being a burden on Anko.

Temari helped Anko make breakfast when Gaara suddenly appeared at the table. He was already dressed wearing gray jeans, a black hoodie and black converse. Temari knew Gaara never had a problem with getting ready early, but whenever Gaara got ready extra early it was because he wasn't able to sleep, and she could defiantly tell with the dark purple circles under his eyes that he had gotten no sleep all night.

"'Morning, Gaara." Anko said cheerfully setting scrambled eggs and a glass of orange juice in front of him. He nodded in reply. "It's my first time cooking, with the help of Temari of course. Hope you enjoy!"

Gaara tried a scoop of eggs and made a face quickly hiding it by drinking some juice.

"Well, how is it?" Anko said her eyes wide.

"It's great," Gaara managed to croak out. Temari smiled at her brother's attempt to make their aunt feel good. Anko's smile almost reached her eyes. Temari made sure she fixed her own breakfast.

After breakfast, Temari went back upstairs to her room. Her room was on the left side, at the end of the hall with no other bedrooms next to it, but the game room. The room was smaller than her brothers' room, which was on the right side of the house next to Anko's; but they had to share it, at least she had privacy. Her room had a queen size bed that took up most of the space in the room and only a small desk with a chair. Her laptop sat on her desk, and her new books and school supplies spilled across the small room she had left on the floor. It was what Temari would consider an organized mess. Temari really liked her new room, it was comfy.

Her closet was full of things from what she wore back in Suna, but it was also filled with a bunch of new clothes she had gotten with Anko at the mall the past few weeks. She pulled on a pair of jean shorts and a baggy long-sleeve purple shirt that slightly fell of her shoulders. Her hair was pulled into her usual four pigtails. Temari looked at herself in the mirror, thinking she looked presentable. Her mossy green eyes held determination; she was ready to face anything. Starting today she would start fresh and forget everything that had happened. Satisfied she got her things together in her bag as she called out for Gaara and Kankuro to get ready to leave.

"You and the boys better leave now. Konoha is a large city, don't expect to get anywhere in less than 20 minutes," Anko said. She was leaning against Temari's doorframe holding out the keys to her car.

"What do you mean 'you and the boys'? I thought we were driving there together?" Temari asked.

Anko smiled. "Nope, it's just you and the boys in my car, I mean your car." She extended her arm further suggesting that Temari take the keys from her.

Temari's eyes widened. "You mean it?"

"Of course! You're eighteen. I think you deserve it."

"Thanks Anko!" Temari reached out to take the keys and hugged her aunt. It felt strangely weird hugging someone like this, but Temari liked it.

"Get going," Anko finally said. "I'll text you whenever I don't have a class to teach."

Temari laughed. "Are you implying that I break the rules on my first day of school and text you?"

"As if you're such a good girl," Anko smiled winking at her. Temari smiled back as her aunt left for work.

Temari grabbed her backpack and ran down the stairs where Gaara was already waiting for her at the front door looking tiered.

"Where's Kankuro?" Temari questioned.

"Still asleep," Gaara replied.

"What? That idiot!" Temari dropped her bags and ran up the stairs once again. Once she reached her brothers' room she banged on the door with force. "Get up you dumbass. I swear if you make us late for our first day I'll make you clean the garage!"

She heard something fumble and fall inside and then a faint "Ouch!"

"I'm coming," Kankuro said, sounded like he was still half-asleep.

"You can walk to school, you idiot!" Temari threatened with a final bang on the door. She reached the front door where Gaara stood in the same spot. "Let's go." She said firmly. He followed without asking any questions, not wanting to get on his older sister's temper.

They got into Anko's—now Temari's—black tiny Jetta, throwing their bags in the back seat. As Temari turned on the engine a panting Kankuro appeared out front door, trying to put on his black leather jacket while wrestling a binder into his bag and eating a piece of toasted bread at the same time. He made it into the backseats of the car before it was out the driveway.

"You got lucky," Temari said looking at him through the rearview mirror.

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><p>Anko: <em>Hi….wha zzz up?<em>

Tem: _Anko I'm in school. We've only been apart for 15 minutes._

Anko: _oh, yayyyhhhhhh... I will rescue U if the skool catches on fire_

Tem: _…thanks Anko…_

Anko: _K! xoxo ;)_

"A teacher texting," called a smooth voice behind Anko. "That's something you don't see every day."

She twirled around to see Kakashi Hatake sanding behind her, one hand in his pocket the other holding up a book under his face.

"Kakashi being late to class, now _that's_ something you don't see every often," Anko countered sarcastically pointing at the school clock above them. Kakashi smiled the way only he could, with his eyes both shut. Anko felt like ripping the mask of his face just to see his real smile.

"I guess I could work on that," he said. "But you're the one who needs to remember to attend the teacher conferences." Anko gasped. She'd completely forgotten about the teacher meeting she was supposed to go to yesterday. Why did they have to have one during summer break? Even if it was just a day before school started. He turned around to leave. He raised his free hand waving it as a farewell as he called out, "Just don't forget about the one we have next week."

Anko felt herself flush. She stuck her tongue at his back on instinct and she swore he him laugh as he made his way to the Konoha High School building.

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><p><em>That bastard is so lucky,<em> Temari thought looking over at Kankuro as she walked down the hall with him. They'd ended up getting up in the same homeroom.

They'd gotten to their new high school with 10 minutes to spare, but she and her brother had been hauled into the office of their principle, Lady Tsunade (whom they quickly found out had a worse temper than Temari) as soon as they got there, and then they were handed their schedule and a map to the school by the principle's assistant, a nicer lady named Miss Shizune, who smiled at them apologetically each time Mrs. Tsunade blurted out her need for some sake.

Now they only had 3 minutes before the bell rang. There was the faint sound of sneakers squeaking on the floor as people rushed to get to class and a few yells across the hall of "How was your summer?" and "I haven't seen you in ages!" as people embraced. They managed to make it into their classroom before the bell rang.

"Ah, you two are the new students from Suna, right?" said a middle aged man with a dark bread who was standing in the front of the class. His breath smelt strongly of nicotine. "I'm Asuma. Welcome to Konoha High. Take a seat, please."

All eyes were on Temari and her brother as chose their seats. Unfortunately, the two only empty seats were far from each other. Temari took the seat closer to the window while Kankuro took the one in the corner. The guy behind her had his head on his desk and both arms around it, as if trying to catch up on sleep. A nice girl who sat next to Temari introduced herself. She wore her brown hair in two buns. They exchanged schedules to see what classes they had together.

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><p>Shikamaru Nara hated going to school. It wasn't because of the fact he had to go and learn things, he always thought having an education was essential to life, but he hated school because of the fact that he had to get up so early and actually go to school. He'd considered being homeschooled many times before, just so he could wake up whenever he wanted, and learn whatever he wanted, but then he began to think about having his mom as his teacher and then he thought it should be illegal to have someone as scary as her teach.<p>

There was always the fact that his friends went to school with him, but he hardly ever saw them because he had skipped a grade in eighth grade (his teacher claiming he was a genius). So he had to put up with stuck-up seniors while his friends still had fun being juniors.

He usually got to school early because his mom was always nagging him in the morning about how to get to school on time, and at least if he got to homeroom early he could have a few minutes of peace.

"How's life, Shikamaru?" Asuma greeted him.

"Troublesome as ever," Shikamaru replied waving hello to his favorite teacher Asuma, also a good friend of his dad's. He was lucky to have someone as cool as Asuma his homeroom teacher. He took his usual seat next to the window and laid his head on the desk, his final attempt to get some sleep before school started.

Shikamaru's mind floated into a limbo, halfway between being asleep and awake. He heard the sounds of his classmates rushing in and taking their seats, the soft murmurs of backpacks being opened and closed. He faintly heard the voice on his classmate Tenten speaking to someone. Tenten was a good friend of his. Shikamaru like her and the way she wasn't snotty like other seniors.

Tenten seemed to be speaking kindly; there was an exchange of papers and then a voice belonging to a stranger. The voice was a perfect pitch, clear and rich, like maple syrup. The kind of voice Shikamaru would love to listen to for ages until he fell asleep to it.

But it wasn't helping him fall asleep. The more he listened the more he felt images came to mind. The voice belonged to someone he didn't know, and yet it was so familiar.

_"What! Don't you want to make a comment?"_

That's it! He had heard the voice before! It had only been about a month since he heard it. It sounded a little different than when he'd first heard that voice. Back then it had been harsher and almost broken, but today it was strong. The realization made Shikamaru snap his head up from his desk, startling everyone around him. A blond haired girl in front of him stared at him. Her green eyes wide full of recognition and her lips slightly parted with shock. It wasn't just him who remembered her. She remembered him as well.

"You okay, Shikamaru?" Tenten laughed at Shikamaru's unexpected movement.

"Um, yea, just a bad dream," Shikamaru said after catching himself staring at the girl in front of him. The blonde girl gave him a dark look so powerful it made Shikamaru wish he'd never looked up.

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><p><em>ah! poor shikamaru! first his mom at home and now this blond haired girl at school? <em>

_haha, tell me what you though about it? (also did you like the slight Anko/Kakashi? i figured since she is going to be such an important characer she deserves someone ^.^)_

**_-Cyan_**


	3. Chapter 2

_OK, so I know I am a big fat liar with my pants on fire, but please understand. To be honest I couldn't find where to go with the story but once I knew I typed like a maniac. I actually really enjoyed writing this chapter and I hope you'll enjoy reading it just as much! :)_

_And thank you SO much for being so patient. I will not give up until this story is finished!_

**Disclaimer: **_No reason to say this is mine, since obviously it isn't..._

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><p><strong>Chapter II: "Mind over Matter"<strong>

The color of Ms. Yuhi's hair was a shiny coal black and it curled in an unruly manner. Temari wondered how someone could get their hair looking so unkempt yet so beautiful and natural. What's more, Ms. Yuhi's hair was so dark it seemed to reflect blue shades now and then if the light hit it just right. She was a beautiful woman with maroon eyes so light they reflected red; it was alarming to see red eyes like hers at first, but once she smiled you noticed the rest of her perfect features. Everyone in class called her Kurenai, and Temari quickly learned her favorite color was red for she wore a red dress, red shoes, and red lipstick; she even hung paintings containing mostly red (all done by Kurenai). She was kind and expressive toward her students, and she let them talk aloud while they painted. They had been assigned to paint anything they wanted in water colors today since it was still the first day of school. As much as Temari liked this class, Temari's comfort zone was ruined when she realized _that_ boy was in her art class as well. She had learned that his name was Shikamaru, and so far she had been grateful not to have him in any other classes, but here he was, sitting two rows in front of her, in the only class she wasn't going to bore Temari.

They hadn't spoken since homeroom when Tenten introduced them. Shikamaru had given her a small hello with a troubled look while she had only nodded back at him and proceeded to ignore him the rest of the day. What was she supposed to do? Ask him if he remembered her? Ask Shikamaru if he remembers watching her walk out of the cabin with Hidan following her with a huge grin of triumph on his face? Ask him what he thought of it? If he had thought about it often after the night it happened? After all, it was obvious the boy knew who she was. Temari could tell he had recognized her, and he seemed as eager to stay out of her way as much as Temari was keen to avoid him at every corner. So why should she even try to know what he thinks?

As Temari drew a light blue sky, tainted with yellows and oranges from the sun, a cold thought came over her. _How many people had Shikamaru told about the incident and her?_ The thought was so overwhelming and nauseating that a big shiver went through her. Should she do something about it? Talk to him before anything bad happened?

Temari looked over at Shikamaru who was making pathetic attempts of painting a shogi board with pieces on it. His chubby friend sitting next to him joked about Shikamaru's lame painting skills. Shikamaru's friend didn't seem to be much of an artist himself. His drawing looked like a 5th grader had been asked to paint his favorite foods. Shikamaru joked back; his features seemed much more relaxed than when he had seen Temari.

Temari kept staring at his back trying to figure this guy out. Her mind began to reel in answers and possibilities. There were only two options a guy his age would do. One option being he would tell the whole school by spreading a rumor about of what had happened over summer and maybe even adding unnecessary gossip. After all, it was the beginning of the school year and juicy gossip was welcome to ears who longed to hear the gossip they had missed over summer. Option two was that he would only tell his close friends, and be honest in what had happened in Camp Suna, not making up pointless rumors that might ruin her more. Either way, both options involved Shikamaru telling someone what had happened and Temari was **not** okay with that. It was just a matter of time before he told someone and there went her reputation like it had in her old school.

In a way, Temari didn't want to confront Shikamaru, she wanted to believe that he could keep his mouth shut, but she knew that would be asking too much of a high school teenager. She knew better, and one way or another she would have to find a way to talk to him. But for now she could relax and paint Suna's landscape. There would be plenty of time to talk to him later. Temari figured that Wednesday would be a good day to talk to him.

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><p>Of course, Shikamaru had noticed that Temari was in his art class the second he walked into the classroom. It felt like daggers were being thrown at him every time she looked his way. That girl sure had a powerful aura about her, but Shikamaru knew to keep his distance from those sorts of girls.<p>

He smiled at Kurenai when she greeted him. Suddenly, it seemed to Shikamaru that he knew too many secrets. About the new girl Temari; about Asuma's love for the art teacher, Kurenai; about Choji's crush on Ino, the most popular girl in school (also one of Shikamaru's oldest friend besides Choji); and even how Tenten and Neji spent their study hall making out in the third floor's supply room, that wasn't used except by the science teachers when they had labs. If fact, he even knew about some secrets from the juniors since he had been in their grade once. He knew that contrary to popular belief, Ino was still a virgin, Sakura hadn't had a boyfriend besides Sasuke, and Naruto had fallen in love with Hinata on his sixteenth birthday (took that dimwit long enough).

It's not like Shikamaru lived for gossip and was constantly eavesdropping or making up rumors; for the most part he just stumbled into awkward situations which gave him hints as to what was going on in other's lives. Like the time his science teacher had asked him to fetch some microscopes for the class and he had walked into Neji with his hand up Tenten's blouse while they kissed passionately. Honestly, he hadn't wanted to see that and if he could have avoided it he would have. Shikamaru had also always been quick to catch on. It wasn't hard to connect the dots every time Asuma came late to school (which was rare for him), and on that same day Kurenai would wear a scarf or some sort of turtle neck to cover up her hickeys. Naruto's case had been obvious to everyone but Hinata (poor couple needs some serious help in the right direction). There were also times that he knew about things because people trusted him as a friend and would tell him his problems. That's how he had come to know about Choji's and Ino's secrets. He hadn't asked them a thing, and truthfully didn't want to know, but he couldn't help but listen to his best friends' troubles.

So it wasn't as if Shikamaru was looking for gossip; gossip always _found_ him and he thought it to be a drag. Besides it was just so troublesome to know so much at times. It was his knowing so much that had gotten him into being a senior in the first place. It was knowledge that had him in this situation.

So when it came to knowing about this new girl called Temari, Shikamaru decided to do what he always does when he knows a new secret. Keep it bottled up and not tell anyone about it. No need for him to overthink the situation and do something about it. _Mind over matter_, that's always what he told himself every time he was too lazy to do something about a problem. Things would work out by themselves.

"What is that? A wigi board?" Choji joked next to Shikamaru as he looked at Shikamaru's painting.

Shikamaru shoved him away and replied, "At least mine doesn't look like 5th grader threw up last night's dinner on his canvas." He relaxed at Choji's jokes but Shikamaru could still feel Temari's eyes burning into his back. God, what on earth had he done to deserve this?

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><p>"How'd you like your first day at Konoha High School?" Tenten asked Temari after school, as the two walked toward Temari's car. It was located at a rather far location from the school's main building, for they had been unfortunate in getting minutes late and, therefore, couldn't find good parking spots. '<em>It's all Kankuro's fault<em>,' Temari huffed in her thoughts.

"It was grrreat!" said a male voice as a figure came up behind Tenten and put his arm around her shoulders. Temari looked over to see Kankuro smiling down at a confused Tenten. '_Think of the devil,' _Temari thought.

"She's asking me dumbass, get away from her," Temari frowned at her brother's stupid move.

Kankuro, however, ignored her completely. "Hi, nice to meet you I'm Kankuro. I'm sure you know me already since we just moved to town. We have homeroom together?"

"Um, right…" Tenten said inching away from Kankuro's grip. "The same homeroom my boyfriend's in?"

Kankuro looked puzzled but he quickly recovered. "You mean that lazy ass sitting next to you? Ha! That guy looks like such a wimp."

"No, she means me," a cold voice came from behind them. The three of them turned around to look at a tall, handsome and dark-haired boy. His features were striking and winsome, but the most outstanding thing about him was his white eyes with gray irises. He was by no means a wimp much less someone you wanted to talk back to. He glared at Kankuro who immediately dropped his arm and made a little distance between himself and Tenten.

Tenten smiled and put her arm on Neji's chest as if to hold him back a little. "This is Neji Hyuuga, Temari. Sorry I didn't introduce you earlier. We've been going out since last year."

"Nice to meet you," Temari said politely. That guy was intimidating as hell. Neji nodded back and whispered to Tenten.

"Well I'll see you tomorrow!" Tenten called. "Hope you had a great day. Sit with me at lunch again!" she followed Neji (who gave Kankuro one last glare) back to a black BMW car. Temari didn't know much about cars but even she could tell it was the latest model.

"Nice going dickhead," Temari laughed at her dumbfound brother, entering her car.

"Shut up!" he groaned, embarrassed for looking so lame. Temari took the wheel and Kankuro sat next to her in the passenger's seat. "At least there are other hot girls in this school." Kankuro said with Temari half listening to him. "Man, the girls here are way hotter than the one's back home. Even the little freshmen look sexy."

Temari's head snapped. "Oh, no, don't you dare go after freshmen or sophomores; they at least deserve a few more years of innocence."

"They didn't look so innocent to me. It wouldn't hurt to try and get one of them, it's not like I'll be rough with them or—"

"Don't talk like that!" Temari suddenly blurted out. For some reason Kankuro's speech was making her stomach turn; it was reminding her of Hidan. As much as Kankuro was a flirt, she didn't want to see her brother turn out like that; she didn't want some girl to go through what she had gone through, and because of her brother! The thought scared her more than she would admit.

"What's wrong with you? Your panties have been up in a wad ever since we got here. Loosen up would you?" Kankuro said looking at his sister with a raised eyebrow. But what Kankuro didn't know was that Temari had been more uptight even before moving to Konoha. It started since that night…

The door on Temari's black Jetta opened and was shut with force. Looking through her rearview mirror, Temari saw a ill-humored Gaara in the back seat, which wasn't unusual but the purple and red surrounding his eye was.

"Oh my God, Gaara!" Temari exclaimed turning around in her seat to take a better look at his face. "What happened to you?"

"Nothing."

"That's not nothing!"

"Some blonde guy got mad at me for telling him that his birth certificate was an apology from the condom factory." Gaara said indifferently looking out the window. Kankuro laughed and called, "Nice, bro."

"Why the hell would you say that?" Temari yelled. She admited it was kind of funny, but they were here to fit in, not make bad impressions.

"He was annoying me. And I gave him a bloody noise for bunching me in the eye."

"That's my little brother! Well done!" Kankuro called in delight at justice being served.

"Did you get in trouble?" Temari shook of Kankuro's stupid remarks.

"A talk with the Principal and Saturday detention with him." Gaara said indifferently once again.

Were her brothers idiots? Temari rolled her eyes as they made their way back home to see their crazy aunt who was already frustrated with all the work she had to do and the council meeting she had missed. It took a hot bath and green tea made by Temari to get her to calm down and stop throwing curse words at the smallest things.

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><p>The next day was just like Monday had been; long and it seemed to drag on and on and on…people were still bubbly from coming back from summer break but Shikamaru felt he already needed a vacation.<p>

Shikamaru was glad it was lunch time and just like yesterday he sat with Choji, Ino, Kiba, Sakura, Sasuke, Naruto and Hinata. Last year he would sit with Tenten, Neji and Lee once in a while, but now that Temari was with them he wasn't going to go within ten feet of them. It wasn't worth the trouble.

"She's staring at you again," Ino said, smiling tenderly across the table at Shikamaru as her fork played with her salad.

"Hugh? Who?" Shikamaru instantly looked over at Temari who was busy laughing at something Tenten had said.

"You know who I mean that—what's her face?—Shiho girl." Ino replied, her smile only grew larger. "I think little nerdy girl's got a crush on you."

Shikamaru look behind him to see Shiho, a junior like the rest of his friends, looking at him through her thick glasses. Once they made eye contact she blushed furiously and ducked behind her Physics textbook hiding her face, but her unnaturally green frizzy hair still stuck out from over her textbook.

"You should ask her out on a date." Ino persuaded.

"She's not really my type." Shikamaru responded. Shikamaru had often found Shiho staring at him in the library were he falls asleep during his study hall.

"What is _your_ type, Shika? You never talk about girls you like, unlike Mr. Hormone over here." Ino glazed over at Kiba who was talking to Naruto and Hinata about the hot foreign girl he'd met over summer and the things they had done; from what Shikamaru could tell it was enough for Hinata to look like she would faint from embarrassment.

"It's true Shikamaru I don't think you've ever dated a girl." Choji said.

"You're one to talk, Choji. You haven't had a girlfriend either." Ino said loudly.

"Well a least Shikamaru has one night stands," Choji said, embarrassed. Shikamaru felt a pang whenever Choji stood up for Shikamaru and made himself look bad in the progress. It made him realize Choji was willing to put himself down to make Shikamaru look better.

Ino's eyes widened, "You never told me about those!" she looked interested now, not paying Choji any attention.

"Leave him alone, Ino-pig, he must have his reasons," Sakura said giving Shikamaru a knowing smile. Although Sakura's reasons for not having a boyfriend until now were different from Shikamaru's reasons for not having a girlfriend, Sakura felt the sympathy for him. Sakura hadn't had a boyfriend until now because the only one she had truly wanted this whole time was Sasuke; for Shikamaru it was only because having a girlfriend was too troublesome.

"This is _our _conversation, forehead. Go back to playing with your dyed hair."

"You're tan looks good on you Ino; you know orange is my favorite color." Sakura retorted. They huffed at each other and Sakura went back to talking to Sasuke. Shikamaru knew they would make up soon enough; just like they do every day.

"So what sort of girls do you go for?" Ino said winking at Shikamaru. Shikamaru thanked the angels and gods when the bell rang for their next period, and Ino remembered she had forgotten her Algebra II book at home, so Choji let her borrow his.

As she walked away Choji and Shikamaru made their way to the art classroom. Art and a few other electives were the few classes that let freshmen, sophomores, juniors, and seniors have class together. Shikamaru and Choji had chosen this class last year for an easy A and to be together now that they were in different grades. Before entering, Choji stopped Shikamaru.

"What is it?" Shikamaru asked.

"I was just wondering why you don't like Shiho." Choji said. "I know you didn't want to tell Ino but you can tell me. Why do you avoid her so much, didn't she move here not too long ago?"

"I don't' care much about her but if you really want to know: It's just something that happened over the summer, that's all."

"Yeah?" Choji prompted.

"I don't know, she seems like a nice girl, but don't let that fool you. I've heard rumors about her. Most of all what I saw." There was another secret Shikamaru knew that he wished he didn't. Shikamaru wouldn't have told anyone about it, but Choji was his best friend and he wouldn't lie to Choji.

"What did she do over summer?"

"Stuff to me, mainly. I'll tell you later. We'll be late to class."

* * *

><p>Temari hadn't laughed so much since her mom died. Tenten turned out to be hilarious, and she and Neji would argue about the stupidest things in the funniest manner (Tenten would always win, but mainly because Neji let her). Neji had also turned out to be much kinder than she'd imagined, although still reserved and polite. Temari thought they made a nice couple. Lee, the guy she had just met, was sort of like a third wheel for he was best friend with both Tenten and Neji. And although he was annoying with his use of language (with "the power of youth" and "never giving up" speeches), he was nice and attentive to what others had to say.<p>

Temari was in a much better mood than yesterday, and she was really starting to enjoy the atmosphere here in Konoha. When the bell rang after lunch, she and her new friends still stayed a while longer finishing up their conversation.

On her way to Kurenai's class she thought about the party Tenten had mentioned during lunch.

"Nothing big," Tenten had said. "Just a get-together at Neji's place. We do this every year to celebrate the beginning of the school year and being back together. You'll meet more people there too."

Temari had asked when. "Saturday at 8ish," Tenten had replied. "Come over earlier so we can talk before the party." Temari had nodded and walked off.

Temari was already thinking about what she was going to wear when she heard two voices. One sounded concerned and the other was lazy, almost slurred. She recognized the latter right away. It was Shikamaru. They stood beside the art room entrance as they spoke in low voices. Temari thought of walking past them like if nothing was wrong until she caught onto what the first voice asked.

"Why do you avoid her so much, didn't she move here not too long ago?" She stopped in her tracks and stood still where she was. What were they talking about? Wait, aren't they talking about a new girl? Are they talking about _her?_

"I don't care much about her but if you really want to know: it's just something that happened over the summer, that's all." Shikamaru responded after a slight hesitation.

"Yeah?" the other prompted.

"I don't know, she seems like a nice girl, but don't let that fool you. I've heard rumors about her. Most of all what I saw." Her heart dropped.

"What did she do over summer?"

"Stuff to me, mainly. I'll tell you later. We'll be late to class." Temari felt her blood boil. What did that ass think he was doing? It was as Temari feared, he was going to tell his friends **and **add rumors to it. He was trying to imply they had done things together! How stupid she had been to think waiting to confront him was a good idea!

Temari would have to confront him as soon as possible, before things got out of hand for her.

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><p><em>*gasps*! Temari's obviously got the wrong idea; you can't blame her though...but maybe she's a bit to paranoid? I don't know tell me what you guys think? because <strong>REVIEWS<strong> are greatly welcomed and appreciated even if it's short ;)_

_**-Cyan**_


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